Tropical diseases, now for celebrities too!
 

[QUOTE=chalsall;386715]My girlfriend and I have caught [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chikungunya"]Chikungunya[/URL].

I currently have a temprature of 39.4 C[SUP]o[/SUP], and joint pain so bad I can barely type or walk. :sad:[/QUOTE]

It seems that now the disease may get more funding/research:
[URL="http://www.webmd.com/news/20141231/lindsay-lohan-chikungunya"]Lindsay Lohan Sick With Chikungunya Virus[/URL]

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;391432]Lindsay Lohan[/QUOTE]

Who?

I'm serious... I have no idea who she is.

But, equally serious, this infection is not fun.

[QUOTE=chalsall;391435]But, equally serious, this infection is not fun.[/QUOTE]Yes, I am aware of that. But outside of the tropics, say the name and people think it is a chicken dish. Today I have spoken with 2 people that should know about it and didn't. One was an RN, the other a person who reads a lot and is generally up to date on the latest medical happenings. I only learned about it around mid 2014. A public health official was on the radio worried about it (and dengue) possibly spreading to parts of the USA, more than ebola.

With someone that many people know of getting the disease the likelihood that the general public will learn about it goes way up. Also, if it is no longer just a disease that the poor people of poor tropical nations get and it has no cure or prevention, it may get more attention and maybe more research dollars from '1[SUP]st[/SUP] world' nations. Maybe the Gates Foundation can spread their malaria mosquito net to cover it too.

Did you notice that many westerners only started to pay attention to ebola once the attractive American Dr. got sick? Even [URL="http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-ebola-doctors/"]Time's article[/URL] shows the handsome white Dr. twice before showing a single black person.

[QUOTE=chalsall;391435]Who?

I'm serious... I have no idea who she is.
[/QUOTE]
Ms Lohan is an actress, well-liked in her youth before a few years of very hard partying. She is/was rather attractive, so like Paris Hilton became famous despite questionable acting. She is perhaps more famous now for bad decision-making (e.g. shoplifting, disappearing from rehab clinics) than for her acting.

[QUOTE=VBCurtis;391445][...]She is/was rather attractive[...][/QUOTE]
I love your cautious option of the past tense. Well, I guess modern anti-aging techniques are pretty clever, but they can't work miracles even for celebrities who rely on them and pay through the nose for them. Lindsay Lohan will be 29 this year, after all.:smile:

This is not quite her, but a (in)famous cautionary tale, too:

Hi Math People,
Diseases on Islands are a problem. Also, if there is too much stagnant water, the animal droppings can cause giardia.

Regards,
Matt

[QUOTE=Brian-E;391450]I love your cautious option of the past tense. Well, I guess modern anti-aging techniques are pretty clever, but they can't work miracles even for celebrities who rely on them and pay through the nose for them. Lindsay Lohan will be 29 this year, after all.:smile:[/QUOTE]

I was thinking more of the effects of the drug use and weight loss, rather than Father Time.

If this disease does become even loosely associated with her, folks might think it is picked up by passing out on the floor of bars in tropical climates...

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;391441]With someone that many people know of getting the disease the likelihood that the general public will learn about it goes way up. Also, if it is no longer just a disease that the poor people of poor tropical nations get and it has no cure or prevention, it may get more attention and maybe more research dollars from '1[SUP]st[/SUP] world' nations. Maybe the Gates Foundation can spread their malaria mosquito net to cover it too.[/QUOTE]

Good point about the increased attention.

And, also, about the need for additional research! My doctor, who I consider to be quite possibly one of very best here in Bimshire, has told me that the entire medical community is at a loss as to how to best treat the effects! They are trying different things and collaberating on what works, and what doesn't. This is further complicated in that it effects different people in radicially different ways.

BTW, I'm on yet another drug; after my anti-inflamitories ran out, the extreme pain returned. I've also been ordered to type as little as possible for at least a week, so I'll mostly be in "lurk" mode for a while....

I hope you soon start to feel better.

On the Dutch Caribbean islands, they are starting to gather data to help understand Chikungunya better:
[URL]http://www.todaysxm.com/2014/11/19/interns-optimistic-about-chikungunya-study/[/URL]
I have also heard that the mosquitoes involved tend to bite in daylight, so nets alone are not sufficient.

California child diagnosed with plague after camping at Yosemite
 

[QUOTE]
A child who camped in California’s Yosemite national park has been diagnosed with the plague, the latest of several such infections in the western United States this year, health officials said.

The California child became ill and was hospitalized with the disease, carried by rodents and the fleas that live on them, after visiting the Stanislaus National Forest outside the park and then camping at Yosemite’s Crane Flat campground last month, officials said on Thursday. The Los Angeles County child, whose name and age were not released, is recovering, state health officer Dr Karen Smith said in a statement.

News of the infection came just a day after officials in Pueblo, Colorado, said that an area adult had died from the plague, the second person in the state to succumb this year to a form of the centuries-old scourge. Earlier this year, a teen died from the plague in Colorado, and last year four people were sickened after coming into contact with an infected dog, officials said.
[/QUOTE]Press article: [URL]http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/07/california-child-diagnosed-plague-yosemite[/URL]